RetiredDoc

I am still here, Emilio. Just haven't had the need to post anything recently. Thanks for checking up on me.

For your $80K you could have a very nice new diesel crew cab pickup. With essentially every electrical gizmo and all the leather that your Lexus has. Under the Lexus plastic body cladding it's a truck as well. Not like those puny RX's. Have you dropped the hammer on a new Ford Explorer yet? You liking it?

In reference to your middle seat complaint, I assume that you are using the securing straps stored under the seats in the correct way. If you need them even tighter, run the front seats forward a few inches before you hook up the securing straps tightly, and then run the front seats back to their original positions. That will make the straps extra tight so that there will be no more banging and creaking. I know the Lexus strap system isn't elegant, but you can make it work. I find that rolling these straps back up tightly enough to store them in their under seat storage receptacles is way harder for me than securing the tumbled forward seats with them, so when I'm not using them I just tuck them loosely under the seats. The hooks at the ends are too big to go under the seats, though.

Well, the local dealer got the overtightened wheel lock off and replaced all 4 of them with standard lug nuts. Luckily the flatbed ride to the dealer of 40 miles was covered by Lexus. But, they made up a bit for it by charging almost three times the cost of the replacement lug nuts. That's my dealer's price compared to the on-line price (less shipping) from a Lexus dealer service department in another city near me. So I now have 4 spare lug nuts. I need to check and see if they'll fit the IS-C and replace those locks.

A few months back I bought new tires from my dealer. I'd guess they were put on using an air impact wrench, based on this recent problem. And, remember the LX comes with McGard wheel locks installed. Saturday morning one of my tires was flat. I found a screw in the tread, so I decided to change the tire, and take the flat to the dealer for repair on Monday. I found that all the lug nuts were so tight that I wasn't able to budge any of them with a socket and 3 foot breaker bar. The lug wrench in the vehicle tool kit was worthless. I finally resorted to an electric impact wrench. So, I had 4 lug nuts loose, and was ready to tackle the wheel lock. Hmm, why won't the wheel lock key fit onto the nut? It seems that somehow in installing the new tires, the inside of the wheel lock key had been sheared off. The dealer, of course, had just closed for the weekend. I found many videos on you tube about how to easily bypass the wheel lock, but the techniques made the removed lug nut useless, and there is not a spare lug nut to use to install the spare tire. So, I went on line to McGard, and ordered a replacement wheel lock key. with one day shipping. But the one day doesn't start until McGard opens for business after the weekend. To eliminate this ever happening again, I also ordered 4 standard lug nuts, and I plan to trash the McGard locks and just go with real lug nuts all around on all 4 wheels. That's my advice to you. Get rid of the McGard wheel locks and go with standard lug nuts. Do it before you are faced with a problem. From what I found on line, the McGard locks won't stop a wheel thief. The bypass hack takes all of about 10 seconds. If you feel you must stick with the McGard locks, at least order a spare key for them, and keep it in the vehicle. Do not let your dealer service department tire changer use the backup key. It's likely that the person doing the tire changing at the dealer is not a mechanic or trained technician. Luckily my flat happened in my garage. If it had been on the road, the LX would still be sitting out there somewhere waiting on a new wheel lock key.

I have had my share of problems with the Lexus Active Height Control system, but my LX's always started. I can't think what AHC problem would cause your LX to fail to start. I'll be very interested in hearing about the resolution of you problem. !Removed! luck!

Eureka! I have discovered a quick and simple way to disable the warning beep. Use a 3/8 inch diameter ring, like the circular end of a large metal screw eye, or a metal ring like those sold in the hardware aisle at Lowes. Using a hacksaw, cut off a segment of the ring. You want a segment about 1/3 of the complete circle of the original ring Push the curved metal segment directly into the latch in the upper rear door. The door thinks it is closing and will grasp the metal segment. Voila! You can drive with both the upper door open and the tailgate down with no warning beep. As I said in my first post, I am aware of the dangers of carbon monoxide poisoning, having nearly lost my wife a few years back when a repairman left a furnace flue detached. If not for a detector giving a warning, I'd likely be a widower now. So, I'm certainly not advocating that anyone drive around town this way. I use it only when I'm moving hay bales or feed sacks or other heavy, bulky objects on the tailgate over short distances. Once you're done, remove the metal ring segment. Don't try to pull it straight out, just rotate it on its arc until it's free. The door close buttons on the door and dash will not work, so you then need to close the rear door by hand. Once you close the door manually, the button action resets itself, and things are back to normal. Remember that driving with the rear door open is potentially dangerous. BTW, a hitch cargo carrier is more trouble for me than it's worth. I keep my horse trailer hitch locked into the receiver, and removing it and replacing it with a hitch carrier just to move a bale of hay 1,000 feet isn't efficient use of time and effort. Access to a locking hitch pin in the confined space in the LX bumper cutout is difficult. That's why I leave the trailer hitch ball mounted and locked all the time.

Yes, I fully appreciate the dangers of possible carbon monoxide inhalation. And I realize the Toyota lawyers and our own government require certain devices be installed to protect us from ourselves and Toyota from lawsuits. But, I use my vehicle almost every day to haul things such as a bale of hay, a bag of horse feed, and assorted pieces of horse equipment like saddles over a dirt driveway that's less than 1/2 mile long. It's easiest to just put these things on the open tailgate without having to lift them completely inside and close the back doors. But the warning beep is annoying, both to me and those people and horses I drive past going from one barn to another. I know I could try to drive at under 3 mph, Does anyone know of a way to temporarily disable the warning beep that kicks in when I drive a bit faster?

I agree with your wife. I've got 2 old Stubben saddles (Siegfried VSS and Parzifal dressage) that I bought new about 30 years ago and have (almost) always used Stubben saddle soap and Stubben Hamanol leather conditioner on them. Both have miles and hours of hunting and eventing and schooling on them and I can still use them today. I've never tried Hamanol on my cars. My wife doesn't like the smell of Hamanol in the house when I am cleaning up after a weekend on the road, so I recently switched to Renapur conditioner (paraffin vs beeswax) for all my newer tack, and I have used it on both of our Lexi (plural of Lexus?). I'm old school so I like something that's rubbed in by hand rather than sprayed on like Lexol. Or maybe it's just that I spend more time and take more care with hand application than sprays.

When you open the topic of leather treatment you really get varied opinions. This has been an ongoing topic on a BMW forum I have used for years. As an equestrian, I see it come up related to leather saddles and bridles and boots. To complicate matters there are immersion dyed leathers (like in old Jaguars), surface dyed leathers (BMW, Lexus, GM) plus an array of faux leathers including the venerable naugahyde and the Japanese-invented Porsche-marketed Alcantara synthetic leather. And, what parts of a so-called leather seat in your vehicle are truly animal derived hide, and what parts are petroleum-based synthetics? And the leather treatments - saddle soap, neatsfoot oil. Jojoba oil, beeswax, and many others. And the brands - Leatherique, Leather Honey, Leather CPR, Lexol, Kiwi, Meguiars, etc. You could spend several hours just reading about Leatherique - how the company formula was stolen by an employee, the internal feuds and controversies, the changes in composition of their product, Rejuvinator Oil (which now contains no oil!). I believe the bottom line is that there is no magic leather potion. Just wipe leather often a soft cotton cloth with a mild solvent (like water, but not enough to soak it) to remove dirt and salts. And don't waste leather treatment products on the fake leather parts of your car like seat side panels, backs, dashboards, and door panels.

Thanks for the positive comments. After 3 months the amp is still going strong. Turnaround time from United Radio was one day. I sent then an e-mail and received info and a prepaid UPS label from them within hours. I dropped off the amp at UPS, and they received it about 36 hours later. Another 8 hours and the tech called me from his work bench - the amp was repaired. Problem was overheating. He shipped the amp back right away, and 2 days later I had received the repaired amp and had it back in the vehicle. Now that is old school one-on-one customer service! When was the last time you actually got to talk with the person who worked on your Lexus?

I just replaced the Mark Levinson amplifier in my 2013 LX 570, so I thought I'd describe the process. First of all, the amplifier failure results in absolutely no audio from the speakers. No radio, no Sirius XM, no music via bluetooth pairing with your phone, no voice prompts from the navigation system. A DVD will still play, but video only, without sound. The door ajar beep still works, as it has its own speaker. The amplifier is located in a depression in the floor under the driver's seat. It is covered by carpet, which isn't the best engineering for a device that's heat susceptible like an amplifier. The amplifier has twin cooling fans in the end facing the center of the vehicle, but they obviously are blocked by the confines of the floor recess and the carpet covering. Now for the directions, which I learned by trial and error. Absolutely the best and perhaps only way to remove the amp is by unbolting the driver's seat. You won't need to remove the seat, just tip it out of the way. Here are the steps: Run the driver's seat all the way forward. This exposes the plastic covers on the back of the seat rails. Using a screwdriver, just pop off both of these plastic covers. Underneath them are the rear seat mounting bolts. They are hex head 14 mm bolts, and are really tight. I ended up using an impact wrench to break them free. Remove both rear bolts and set them aside.\ Now run the seat all the way towards the rear, and you'll have access to the front mounting bolts. Pop off their covers, and remove both of these 14 mm bolts. Next lift up the front of the seat and lean the driver's seat back against the middle seat. Peel up the carpeting under the seat (it's already partially split as factory installed. I needed to use a carpet knife to enlarge the opening in the carpet. And now you'll be looking down directly at the exposed amplifier. The amp is held in place to the floor by two mounts, one on either side. The mount on the center side is held by two 10 mm hex bolts, one in front, and one behind the long sides of the amp. The left side next to the door is held by a single 10 mm hex bolt, just to the door side of the end of the amp, and centered on its amp's midline. Remove these 3 bolts and the amp and its two mounts are loose. Next step is to remove the three cable connectors. The wiring connectors insert into the front of the amp. The smaller connector (nearest the center of the vehicle has no lock or latch, so just use a little force to pull it free. The center connector is locked by a tab on its upper surface, which needs to be pushed downward to allow the plug to be pulled free. The largest connector (nearest the driver's door, has a black latch (connector is white). The latch is pried up or forward on the side, and it pivots outward about 30 degrees. This frees the plug, which is then easily pulled free. Now just lift the amp and its two mounts out of the recess in the floor pan. Put the driver's seat back down in place, and install the 4 14 mm mounting bolts. Leave the plastic covers off until you have the amp repaired so you don't have to pull them off a second time. I sent my amp to United Radio in Nw York (unitedradio.com). They have great customer service and an oustnding reputation for repairing these amplifiers. The arrangement Lexus has with Mark Levinson (Harman) does not allow Lexus to repair these units, so they simply sell you a new one. List price for the amp is about $1,700, plus labor. I was quoted $2,400 for parts and labor. United Radio will repair the amp for a flat charge of $675, with free UPS shipping, a one year warranty, and a very rapid turn-around time, typically a week or less. When the repaired unit comes back, just reverse the removal process to install it. I left a window in the carpet under the seat to allow for better cooling of the device, and hopefully prevent future failures.

She's about 250#, 25% the weight of your average horse. Glad I gave you something to smile about.

There are about twenty of them listed on ebay tonight. Here is the least expensive of them. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/2002-2003-2004-2005-2006-2007-LEXUS-LX470-OWNERS-MANUAL-_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQhashZitem4150a8be9dQQitemZ280526110365QQptZMotorsQ5fManualsQ5fLiterature

Thank you very much!